Judged by JD: Update on the Kimye Feud

Read the latest update on the hottest feud of the year to see if you should be using #TaylorSwiftisOverParty or #KanyeWestisOverParty in this session of Judged by JD.

It’s been nearly a month since #TaylorSwiftisOverParty skyrocketed to #1 on Twitter Worldwide Trends and since Kanye appeared in public with a “R.I.P Taylor Swift” shirt “claiming” his win in the Taylor vs. Kimye feud.

“Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift during her “Video of the Year” speech at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards.” PC: Getty Images

The feud started back in 2009 when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift when she won “Video of the Year” at the MTV Music Awards. Zooming past the social death of Kanye West, the release of Swift’s song “Innocent” dedicated to West, their make-up at the 2015 Grammy Awards, and bonding afterwards, they became everyone’s friendship goals… until 2016. In February, West released his eighth-studio album “Life of Pablo” including a track titled “Famous” with the lyrics: “I think that Taylor Swift and I might still have sex / I made that b**** famous.” According to TMZ, Swift’s management claimed that Swift had never heard the full song, or approved of the lyrics, “I made that b***** famous.” In her 2016 Grammy Award speech for “Album of the Year,” Swift indirectly responded to Kanye saying, “there are going to be people who try to undercut your success or take credits for your accomplishment.” Both have had an equally massive opportunity to defame one another, it was simply a matter of who would use which platform, and how bluntly.

“Swift, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West meeting for the first time since the 2009 MTV VMA incident at the 2015 Grammy Awards.” PC: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

So, where does the social death of Taylor Swift come in between all of this? Kim Kardashian West told GQ in her June feature that phone calls did happen… Shortly after, she released edited versions of the phone call between Taylor and Kanye on Snapchat, sparking the feud of the year.

However, there was much speculation as to the legitimacy of the phone call between Kanye and Taylor. If Kim and Kanye really had nothing to hide, couldn’t she just upload the whole video? Why were they edited ten-second snippets on Snapchat?

Thanks to a leak of a demo of “Famous,” we might finally know why. The original lyrics were far more controversial than the original. “I feel like Taylor Swift still owe me sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.” The leaked demos have since been taken down.

From this leak, a majority of the internet seem to be confused with which side they are on. In the alleged hour-plus phone call, we don’t know if Kanye shared the original lyrics with her. But Taylor still claims she was never aware that she was aware of the lyrics “I made that b**** famous.” A spokesperson for Swift reported to PEOPLE that: “Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account” and that the singer “declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message” and “was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that bitch famous.’’ Both sides are technically half true. Kim said a phone call existed but only released 3-minutes, edited, Kanye read her half of lyrics, and Taylor said she never heard the lyrics she later specified she was upset about.

“Swift’s tweet after Kim’s Snapchat story upload of the phone call between West and Swift.” PC: Taylor Swift/Twitter

The internet now seems to have lost a lot of attention on the entire Kimye feud, but a source close to the situation has said that with the leak of the demo, “now you know why Kim only posted an edited three minutes of video footage to Snapchat and not the hour-long conversation that they had.”

THE VERDICT:

Both are wrong and have inconsistencies in their claims. But the Kim/Kanye side have more fault in the drama. Kim claimed that Swift was aware of all the lyrics, listened to the song, and that Swift knew the phone call was being recorded. Taylor may have made it seem that she was a victim, but if all statements and claims line up, Swift was telling the truth the most of time.

As a father, West should have known better than to release a song objectifying a woman and telling people that she “owes” him sex. Since the drama, Swift and her management remained silent about the issue, but Kim and Kanye continue to offer interviews and incite hate chants against Swift at their concerts. Swift has achieved milestones before Kanye West made the decision to interrupt her mid-speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.